School districts sue over settlement

Board president sat in on negotiations on own payment

Officials from two south suburban school districts have sued their township board president for awarding himself $220,000 to settle a lawsuit he filed against the board in 2007.

The lawsuit, filed in Cook County Circuit Court, accuses Bremen Township Board of Trustees of Schools president Joseph Bertrand Jr. of violating public policy when he sat in on negotiations over a settlement he stood to benefit from.

The lawsuit also claims the board violated state law by awarding a settlement to one of its members.

"This guy was in the room with the board of trustees while they were essentially determining whether to settle his lawsuit," said plaintiff's attorney Raymond Hauser. "I think that's pretty audacious."

On Wednesday, attorneys for the school districts plan to ask a Cook County Circuit Court Judge to issue a temporary restraining order on the settlement money until the lawsuit is settled. The Illinois attorney general's office is looking into the situation, according to spokeswoman Robyn Ziegler.

The three-member Board of Trustees is funded by seven south suburban school districts to handle their collective assets and jurisdictional disputes, Hauser said.

Bertrand sued the board after it refused to seat him following his victory in an April 2007 general election. Two years later, a judge decided the board did not have the legal authority to refuse to seat him.

Bertrand, who is executive director of Parks and Recreation for the Hazel Crest Park District, has denied any wrongdoing. On Tuesday, Bertrand directed questions to his attorney, but said there was "a lot more to it than the settlement."

"It is not a matter of trying to hide anything," Bertrand said. "It's just a matter of a lot of litigation, and I've been in three years of litigation about this issue about the seat."

According to the lawsuit, filed by boards representing the Bremen Community High School District and the Forest Ridge School District, Bertrand twice seconded motions to award himself the settlement, although he abstained from voting.

Bertrand's attorneys claim that the board — without Bertrand's input — decided to settle the lawsuit in June to prevent further litigation if Bertrand decided to appeal. They also deny that the board was violating state law by awarding a settlement to a standing official.

"It is our understanding that the board took this action to save the taxpayers money on future attorneys' fees related to any appeal that Mr. Bertrand would have taken," said Bertrand's attorney James Petrungaro. "He did not vote on the settlement when that matter was put to a vote by the Bremen Township Trustees of Schools."